Good evening and welcome to Sports Mole for live text commentary of tonight's international friendly match between Scotland and USA at Hampden Park, Glasgow.
Gordon Strachan has sparked a revival in his country's fortunes since taking over from Craig Levein in January, and victory tonight will see them string three back to back for the first time since 2007.
However, they are still looking to qualify for their first tournament since 1998, and have the Euro 2016 qualifying draw to look forward to in February.
In contrast, Jurgen Klinsmann's men will be on the plane to Brazil next summer after finishing top of the CONCACAF qualifying section.
The last time these two sides met was in May of last year, when a Landon Donovan hat-trick helped USA to a 5-1 win at EverBank Field in Jacksonville.
Please note that kickoff is at 8.05pm.
Good evening! Welcome to Sports Mole for live text coverage of tonight's international friendly match between Scotland and USA.
The hosts have been on the upward turn since Gordon Strachan took over from Craig Levein, and finished their World Cup qualifying group with victories over Macedonia and Croatia. They also tested England at Wembley, but ultimately fell to a 3-2 defeat against their old enemy. Victory tonight will see them go three in a row for the first time since 2007.
Meanwhile, the visitors finished top of the CONCACAF qualifying section and will be heading to their 10th World Cup, and seventh in succession.
Right, team news from Glasgow...
SCOTLAND: Marshall; Hutton, Whittaker, Hanley, Greer; Bannan, Mulgrew, Brown, Conway, Snodgrass; Fletcher
Steve Fletcher starts as the lone striker in front of a five-man midfield. Brighton & Hove Albion's Gordon Greer wins his first ever cap, while his club teammate Craig Conway wins his sixth. Steven Whittaker and David Marshall also come into the lineup.
USA: Howard; Evans, Gonzalez, Cameron, Beasley; Bradley, Jones; Bedoya, Kljestan, Johnson; Altidore
Sunderland's Jozy Altidore leads the line for the visitors, with Alejandro Bedoya, Sacha Kljestan and Eddie Johnson in support. Michael Bradley and Jermaine Jones will sit in midfield, ahead of a four-man defence that includes former Rangers star DaMarcus Beasley at full-back.
GORDON STRACHAN: "I hope it will be a good one, they will be hoping it is a good one as well. They are 13th in the world. We are feeling quite good about ourselves and I'm sure they will be feeling good about themselves at the moment. It is always a result thing in our business but performance as well, and we can work on other things this week towards our long-term future as a group, so that has been good."
JURGEN KLINSMANN: "This game is going to be a benchmark for a team trying to do better. It is part of a learning process and we are looking forward to it. It is sad to see that Scotland didn't qualify because everybody wants to see Scotland in the World Cup, also because of their fantastic fans. They are always emotional, they give you everything they have, so it is a good benchmark."
MATCH ODDS:
Scotland 19/10
Draw 2/1
USA 8/5
Scotland 19/10
Draw 2/1
USA 8/5
Scotland will be out for revenge tonight, as they suffered a humiliating 5-1 defeat in Jacksonville in May 2012. Landon Donovan scored a hat-trick that night, taking his tally to 49 goals for his country. He's now on 57.
USA 5-1 SCOTLAND
The US bring with them a squad packed with players plying their trade in Europe's top leagues. Of course, there's Tim Howard, Geoff Cameron, Brek Shea and Jozy Altidore who play in the Premier League. Then there's Eric Lichaj down in the Championship with Nottingham Forest. Michael Bradley (Roma), Fabian Johnson (Hoffenheim), Jermain Johnson (Schalke 04), Sacha Kljestan (Anderlecht), Aron Johansson (AZ Alkmaar), Mix Diskerud (Rosenborg), Terrence Boyd (Rapid Vienna) and Alejandro Bedoya (Nantes) are also stationed on the continent.
Tonight we have live commentary of a bunch of international fixtures, including the European World Cup playoffs. Click for Ukraine vs. France, Greece vs. Romania, Portugal vs. Sweden, Iceland vs. Croatia.
Then there's the friendly matches. England vs. Chile can be found by clicking here. Click here for Ireland vs. Latia, or here for Italy vs. Germany. Enjoy!
If you're sticking with me, we're just under seven minutes from kickoff at Hampden Park.
Right, the players are making their way onto the pitch. We'll have the national anthems before getting underway, starting with the visitors. OH SAYYY CAN YOU SEEE!
Pre-match rituals complete. Kickoff coming up. Prediction? 1-1...
KICKOFF! USA get the game underway...
SHOT! First effort on goal is from Fletcher, who volleys over Howard's goal from around 25 yards. The Everton keeper was never in trouble.
The home side have settled quickly and are posing a threat early on. The US are doing a bit of chasing, but keeping their shape so far.
SHOT! Conway spoons an effort over the bar. All the game is being played in the US half. Scotland certainly are a different proposition under Gordon Strachan. Long may it continue.
Finally the away side breach the halfway line, as Beasley gets in down the left, but his cross is a poor one that Marshall sees behind for a goal kick.
Lovely ball into the box from Snodgrass, who found Fletcher with the outside of his boot. Just a tad too high for the Sunderland striker, who could only loop his header wide of the mark.
SHOT! Altidore blazes over the bar from just outside the box. That was a good chance for the visitors.
Great interception by Grant Hanley, who prevented Altidore from what surely would have been a goal. It was a nice ball over the top that found Eddie Johnson in the box, but the Blackburn defender was quick to cut out his square ball. The Us are on top now after a slow start.
CLOSE! Mulgrew bends a free kick around the wall but Howard sees it just over the bar. Again, he was never in trouble, but it was a decent strike from the Celtic man.
Lovely ball over the top from Bradley, which finds Bedoya down the right, but the Nantes player was fractionally offside.
Chants of "USA! USA! USA!" ring around Hampden. The match has died slightly in the last five minutes, but it's the Americans enjoying the lion's share of possession.
WHAT A WASTE! Big chance for the home side, as Steven Fletcher plays in Craig Conway, but he scuffs his shot wide of the post. A let off for the Americans.
A poor ball from Hanley nearly lets in Altidore. He was pick-pocketed by Bedoya, who fed the Sunderland striker. However, the Blackburn defender recovered to clear. The game is in a bit of a lull.
HALF TIME! Scotland 0-0 USA
So the first 45 minutes ends goalless. Both sides had their moments, but the best fell to Craig Conway. He really should have scored when one-on-one with Tim Howard but scuffed wide of the post.
SCOTLAND STATS:
Shots: 7
On target: 0
Possession: 57%
Corners: 1
Fouls: 3
Yellow: 0
Red: 0
Shots: 7
On target: 0
Possession: 57%
Corners: 1
Fouls: 3
Yellow: 0
Red: 0
USA STATS:
Shots: 1
On target: 0
Possession: 43%
Corners: 2
Fouls: 2
Yellow: 0
Red: 0
Shots: 1
On target: 0
Possession: 43%
Corners: 2
Fouls: 2
Yellow: 0
Red: 0
WORLD CUP PLAYOFF SCORES:
Greece 2-1 Romania
Portugal 0-0 Sweden
Ukraine 0-0 France
Iceland 0-0 Croatia (FT)
Greece 2-1 Romania
Portugal 0-0 Sweden
Ukraine 0-0 France
Iceland 0-0 Croatia (FT)
INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY SCORES:
Turkey 1-0 N. Ireland (FT)
Italy 1-1 Germany
ROI 1-0 Latvia
England 0-1 Chile
Turkey 1-0 N. Ireland (FT)
Italy 1-1 Germany
ROI 1-0 Latvia
England 0-1 Chile
No changes for either side at the break. It's Scotland to get the second 45 underway at Hampden Park.
The US team are knocking the ball around, they look comfortable in possession but are doing very little with it. Both sides look bereft of ideas to be fair. Such a promising start to the first half has subsided since.
WHAT A SAVE! Snodgrass brings out the best in Howard. The Norwich midfielder clipped a beautiful free kick destined for the top corner until the Everton stopper sprung across his line to palm behind. Brilliant.
Appeals for a penalty as Bannan's cross is blocked by the arm of Evans, but he knew little about it. The referee waved away the protests, rightly so.
CLOSE! A rasping shot from Altidore misses narrowly. It hits a camera behind the goal, so expect a repair bill Jozy...
Some activity on the US bench, looks like a triple sub coming up. Brek Shea is among those stripped and ready for action.
USA SUBS: Eddie Johnson, Jermaine Jones and Sacha Kljestan make way for Mix Diskerud, Brek Shea and Aron Johansson. Fresh impetus for the visitors, perhaps.
Howard was close to carry the ball out of his area there, could well have been in trouble. The linesman didn't flag, and he was right not to. Replays show that the Everton keeper did well to keep the ball inside the area.
Scotland look ready to make a change...
There's a disconnect between midfield and attack for both sides. The final ball has been lacking. Scotland are still enjoying most of the possession, with 58% to the visitors' 42%. However, neither side are threatening.
Good play from Johansson to nutmeg Hanley on the byline. He tries to pick out Bradley, who was steaming into the area, but the ball was a poor one and easily cleared by the Scotland defence.
Mulgrew in on the deck receiving treatment to his knee. He clashed with Mix Diskerud, unintentionally, and came off worse.
Steven Naismith is ready to come on for Scotland.
SCOTLAND SUB: The Everton man comes in for Barry Bannan. So with 10 minutes to go it's still goalless. A poor game, in truth, but either team can still win it.
Brilliant play by Johansson, as he wins the ball in midfield and plays in Altidore down the right. However, he can't quite get on the end of the return ball as blue shirts stream back to quell the danger.
SAVE! Strong hand from Marshall denies Johansson down low, and the rebound falls to Altidore, but Hanley is there to rescue Scotland. That was a big moment.
SCOTLAND SUB: Gary Mackay-Steven comes on for Craig Conway, who missed that sitter in the first half.
CHANCE! The US are clicking in to gear, finally! Shea gets to the left byline and cuts it back brilliantly for Johansson, but the Alkmaar striker flashes a shot across Marshall's goal. Another glorious opportunity goes begging for the visitors.
USA SUB: Chris Wondolowski comes on for Alejandro Bedoya.
FULL TIME: Scotland 0-0 USA
Well, I don't think anybody will be too sad to see that game end. The US came on strong late in the second half and had two great opportunities to win it, but it ends goalless. Back-to-back clean sheets for Gordon Strachan's men though, and they're still going well under the new man.
WORLD CUP PLAYOFF SCORES:
Greece 3-1 Romania
Portugal 1-0 Sweden
Ukraine 2-0 France
Greece 3-1 Romania
Portugal 1-0 Sweden
Ukraine 2-0 France
INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY SCORES:
Turkey 1-0 N. Ireland
Italy 1-1 Germany
ROI 3-0 Latvia
England 0-2 Chile
Turkey 1-0 N. Ireland
Italy 1-1 Germany
ROI 3-0 Latvia
England 0-2 Chile
Right, that brings an end to Sports Mole's coverage tonight. Thanks for joining us and come back soon.
Written by
Michael Penkman
Michael Penkman
